Relations between the state highway department and town interests over changes to historic Route 6A have been frosty at times, but we really didn't mean to write that a public hearing on the latest work would be about "cold planning." We meant "planing."... . And speaking of the state highway department, kudos to those working on the "boulevardization" of Route 132. The switch to the new lanes appeared seamless. We should thank our lucky stars that state roads aren't built the way they used to build them in France. Graham Robb's fascinating new book, Discovering France, tells of "the dreaded corvee." Almost all men between the ages of 12 and 70 were required to work on the roads up to 40 days a year... . Tutor needed: a Cape weeklyreported on a man who had thousands of "first addition" books... . Sunday's fog was so opaque that visibility on Route 132 was about 20 feet. One wouldn't have been surprised to see Sherlock Holmes swirl past with his purchases for Boxing Day... . Who is Ruby Newco? Actually, "what" is the appropriate question. Last week, News Corporationcompleted its purchase of Dow Jones, which owns Ottaway Newspapers Inc., which owns The Barnstable Patriot. Ruby Newco LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of News Corporation, and Dow Jones is now a wholly owned subsidiary of dear old Aunt Ruby. Wonder what she wants for Christmas?... .Also worth noting is that News Corp's purchase makes the New York Post a little less lonely as Rupert Murdoch's only U.S. newspaper holding. Now he has a bunch of papers here, includingthe Wall Street Journalitself. Ottaway's papers are mostly in New England along with three in Oregon and one each in California, New York and Pennsylvania. Murdoch owns newspapers in the United Kingdom, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea also. Without leaving Barnstable, Major Sylvanus B. Phinney's journal finds itself rubbing shoulders with the Times Literary Supplement of London. My, my... . Tonight (Dec. 21) is the "longest" of the year, and not coincidentally the occasion of National Homeless Persons Memorial Day. Beginning at 9 a.m., Federated Church of Hyannis on Main Street will host a mock homeless camp on its front lawn. There'll be a press conference there at noon, and people will be accepting contributions to bring the homeless "in from the streets." At 5:30 p.m., there's a memorial ceremony at the bandstand on the Hyannis green in front of town hall. The "camp" will continue into the morning of Dec. 22... . Sharing the pain: When a robot e-mail list encountered an "I am ill and out of the office" response last week, it broadcast the information to everyone else on the list. When the person sent an e-mail asking,"Is there a way to avoid that in the future?" that message went all over also, prompting this response: "Sure... don't get sick."... . You can still donate toys to the distribution program of the Salvation Army at 100 North St. in Hyannis through today (Dec. 21) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m... . On Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 22 and 23) from noon to 5 p.m., stop by CJ's Ranch to join the 4H Club's "Elves on Horseback" event featuring pony rides and family fun. The ranch is at 1445 Osterville-West Barnstable Road in Marstons Mills.